The major method of therapy for the poisoned patient is removal of poison from the gut and limitation of its adsorption. In these studies we have developed an in vitro model system for evaluating the capacities and affinities of a wide variety of adsorbents for test drugs that are weak acids, weak bases and essentially neutral. In addition adjuvants to the adsorbents are being examined. As the optimum adsorbents and adjuvant combinations are identified, their efficacy is being tested in vivo and the relative importance of affinity, capacity, dose and timing of administration are being evaluated. The comparative efficacies of emesis, lavage and adsorbent treatments are being examined in several animal species and following these in vivo studies, the optimal therapy will be evaluated in volunteers and then overdose patients. The ultimate goal of these studies is to define an optimal form of therapy that can be applied in the home by laymen, in the ambulance by paramedics, and in the emergency department by nurses and physicians in initial management of the patient ingesting toxic doses of drugs and poisons.